Skid.



W. M. SEXTON.

SKID.'

APPLICATION F'IILED NOV. 17, 1913.`

Patented May 26, 1914.

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vide a pair of skids or runners of iron, such ED STAWENT ernten,

WHITsoN ivi. snxfroiv, or Knoxville, TENNEssEn.

SKID.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, IVHrrsoN M. SnXToN, acitizen of the United States of America, and resident of Knoxville,Tennessee, have linvented a new and useful Improvement in Skids, whichinvention is fully set forth in the follo-wing specification.

This invention relates to skids or railbrakes for skiddin railroad cars,and is especially intended for use with mining cars in long trains onsteep grades, though its application is not restricted to this class ofcars and it may be used on any cars.

The object of the inventicn'is to provide skids adapted to be placed onthe rails under the car wheels to support the entire weight of the car,and to act as runners on which one or more cars may be supported in atrain while going down grade.

A further object is to provide a skid of this kind which requires nomechanical devices on the car for handling, but which may be placed byan operator under any one or more of the cars of a long train todistribute the braking action as experience indicates in handling suchtrains on grades, to avoid the dangerous slack often occurring betweenthe rear cars and the motor or engine.

A further object is to adapt the construction of the skid to thefunctions which it performs, while securing simplicity in structure,durability and efficiency.

With the above objects in View, I proas steel, cast or wrought, whichare long enough to extend under the wheels on each side of the car ortruck and support the entire weight of a car. Each skid on its loweredge is provided with a flat wearing surface integral with or separablefrom the skid, with a depending flange adapted to engage the inside ofthe rail. The uppersurface is made on an incline which meets the bottomsurface at the rear of the skid in a feather edge to permit the wheelsto readily roll onto the skid. A stop is provided at the forward endhaving an. upwardly curved surface to conform with the rim of the wheel,and on the stop is mounted a retaining or locking; member for the rim ofthe wheel. This member may be integral with the stop or separabletherefrom but secured thereon by securing means, such as a bolt or thelike. A rabbet or recess is formed alongone edge of the upper side ofSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application led November 17, 19,13.

Patented May 26, 191e. serial Np. 801,436.

the skid to receive the flanges of the wheels and is in line with thelocking member which coperates with the wheels in holding the Askid fromupsetting sidewise. In order to oppose the thrust component acting onthe stop to rotate the skid on its forward end or to tip up its rearend, the skid is prolonged forwardly beyond the stop. This prolongationalso serves to distribute the load over the skid and produce an evenwear. The above and other features of construction will be fullyexplained in the detailed description.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, referencewill be had to the accompanying drawings which are designed to assistthe description and not to define the limits thereof.

In the drawings :F igure 1 is a View in side elevation showing myimproved skid in brakingI position; Fig. 2 is a perspective View of thesame; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;Fig. L is an end elevation of the skid when in braking position; Fig. 5isa plan view looking from beneath, showing the bottom of the skid; andFig. .6 is a perspective view showing the skid provided with a shoe andslightly modified flange-holding means.

Referring to theV drawings, Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically a car l, withits wheels supported on the skid 2 which is in position to slide onrails 3. A similar skid, not shown,'is assumed to rest on the oppositerail of the track and support the car wheels on the opposite side of thecar. The skid consists of along body portion or runner 4, the bottom ofwhich is flat and adapted to slide on the track rail, and is provided atits forward end with a stop member 5 having a curved face 6, the radiusof curvature of which corresponds with that of the car wheel on which itis intended to be used. The end of the curved surface 6 gradually mergesinto the .flat upper bearing surface 7 which makes a slight inclinewith'the bottom of the ruimer, which latter tapers off to a thin edge atthe rear to prevent slip when the car wheels run onto the skid. A flange8 depends from the side of the skid and is adapted to .bear against .theinner side of the track rail. The inner forward end of this flange issomewhat beveled at 9 to facilitate the passage of the flange overirregularities such as those occurring at rail joints. On the same sideof the skid as the flange and above it, is formed a recess 10 extendingthe length of the skid for reception of the flange of the car wheel, andon the stop member 5 is a locking member 11 secured to the stop by abolt 12. This locking member 11 also receives lthe wheel flange andholds the skid from tipping ofi the track. Beyond the stop member 5 therunner is extended and terminates in an upturned portion or horn l?)which presents a curved face on its advancing side to overcomeirregularities as noted above.

In order to renew the wearing surface on the bottom of the skid, holes14, 14. are provided for receiving bolts 15, 15 to retain a shoe 16, asshown in Fig. 6. This shoe preferably extends around a part or the wholeof the face of the horn 13 and runs beyond the end of the runner a shortway. Instead of making the locking member 11 of a separable piece ofmetal, it may consist of a member 11 formed integral with the stop 5.

The operation of the device as thus far described will be readilyunderstood from what precedes. While only one skid has been described,it is obvious that the skids are designed to be used in pairs inskiclding a car, and that the individual skids of a pair are made rightand left-handed to adapt them to the right and left side of the track.

Assuming that a long train of mining cars is to go down grade, theoperator selects one or more cars along the train for application of theskids. In front of the wheels of these cars, the skids are placed on therails. As the cars advance, the wheels ride onto the skids, the frontwheels rolling up against the stops with the forward portions of theirflanges entering the locking member 11, at. which time the rear wheelshave rolled onto the rear end of the skid, thereby transferring the carfrom a rolling support to a sliding support. The draft of the draw-barof the car is now converted into a thrust of the forward wheels againstthe stops 5 on the skid. This thrust tends to a rotation of the skidabout a point below the point of application of this force, or in otherwords, to tip up the rear of the car. This tendency, however, isovercome by the prolongation of the runner beyond the stop member 5.This extension also permits a more extended and even distribution of theload on the skid and secures an even wear on the skid. lt is also to benoted that the skids permit braking single cars on a long train withoutspragging or locking the wheels, which, when so locked, becomeflattened, causing the car to roll roughly on the rail and jolting theore or coal olf along the track. The skids also obviate the occurrenceof dangerous slack in the train by retarding the acceleration of therear cars, due to changes of grade along the track or to change of speedof the engine.

Wrhat is claimed is:

1. A skid for braking cars, said skid comprising a runner adapted toslide on the track rails and support the wheels of a car and having adepending side flange for engaging the track rail, a stop against whicha car wheel may rest, and means on the stop adapted to engage the wheelflange for holding the skid in braking position.

2. A skid for braking cars, said skid cour prising a runner adapted toslide on rails and support the wheels of a car and having a dependingside flange for engaging the rails, a recess for receiving a car wheelflange, a stop against which the car wheel may rest, and means on thestop adapted to engage the wheel flange for holding the skid in brakingposition.

8. A skid for braking cars, said skid comprising a runner adapted toslide on rails and support the wheels of a car and having a side flangefor engaging the track rails, a side recess for receiving the sideflange of a car wheel, a stop against which a car wheel may rest, andmeans on the stop adapted to engage the wheel flange for holding A,theskid in braking position, the forward end of said runner extendingbeyond said stop.

4. A skid for braking cars, said skid comprising a runner adapted toslide on rails and support the wheels of a car and having a side flangefor engaging the track rails, a side recess for receiving the sideflange of a car wheel, a stop against which a ear wheel may rest, meanson the stop adapted to engage the wheel flange for holding the skid inbraking position, the forward end of said runner extending beyond saidstop and having a horn for guiding the skidV over irregularities in thetrack.

5. A skid for braking cars, said skid comprising a runner adapted toslide on rails and extend under the wheels of a car to skid the car andhaving a side flange for engaging car track rails, and a stop on saidrunner against which a car wheel may rest, the forward end of saidrunner extending beyond said stop for distributing the load andpreventing the skid from tipping up.

G. A skid for braking cars, said skid comprising a runner adapted toslide on rails and support the wheels of a car and having on its upperside a tread making a slight angle with the sliding surface of therunner, a side flange for engaging the side of the rails, a recess alongone edge of the tread for receiving the flange of a wheel, a stopprovided with flange retaining means, and a horn in advance of saidstop.

7. A skid for braking cars, the same comprising a runner adapted toslide on rails and support the Wheels of a car and having a side flangefor engaging the rail, said ange at its forward inner end having a bevelfor riding over side irregularities in the rails, and a stop located ata point intermediate the ends of the runner for the purpose described.

8. A skid for braking cars, the same comprising a runner adapted toslide on rails and extend under the Wheels of a car to skid the car, thebottom of the runner having faces bearing on the tread of the rail andon one side of the rail, the top of the runner having faces againstWhich the rim and iiange of a car Wheel bear, and means 15 on the runnerwhich clasp the Wheel rim for holding the skid in braking position.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftWo subscribing Witnesses.

` WHITSON M. SEXTON. Witnesses:

J. C. NEWMAN, a B. E. MCAMIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Iatents,

' Washington, D. C.

